Ladybugs?

[Falconerguy]

I have enormous amounts of ladybugs all around my house and I think about feeding them to my Ghost, but I see the colors and think that there could be a toxin at work in their little bodies. Are they an acceptable food source?

 

[Rick]

They can also be hard for mantids to grab. Mantids can often eat other insects that birds and mammals find unpalatable. Give it a try. They know what they can and cannot eat.

 

[Falconerguy]

I shall, then report back.

 

[Falconerguy]

Report: I found a ladybug well within his capabilities, and he struck at it a few times, but seemed uninterested after that.

 

[Domanating]

Ladybugs like many beetles produce a stinky yellowish liquid when they feel threatened. The mantis most likely could smell that and he struck to scare it away.

 

[Rick]

Ladybugs like many beetles produce a stinky yellowish liquid when they feel threatened. The mantis most likely could smell that and he struck to scare it away.

Possibly. But I've found insect predators are often unaffected by such things, but not always. I always feed stink bugs when I find them and some other noxious bugs that mantids will eat. I can't recall if I ever tried lady beetles.

 

[Paradoxica]

The one time I tried feeding a ladybug to my Creo, she chomped it up without a problem.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Personally I wouldn't feed ladybugs because they are so adorable and beneficial to have around. Plus it is bad luck. =p

I wouldn't however think a mantis would have any problem eating one.